Various types of fire hose reels have been devised, including both fixed and rotatable reels commonly utilized in public facilities and generally positioned within a recessed fire hose cabinet. For industrial applications, the fire hose is often not collapsable, thereby enabling the hose to safely transmit higher fluid pressures. Moreover, the fire hose racks or hose reels for industrial applications frequently are free standing, so that the reel assembly can easily be affixed at a desired location to the floor at the industrial site.
With respect to general hose storage reels, U.S. Pat. No. 1,675,140 discloses a service station reel for supplying air or water to an automobile, with the reel mounted on a horizontal axis and pivotable about a base. U.S. Pat. No. 1,799,599 discloses a hose reel also having a horizontal reel axis and pivotable about a foundation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,180 discloses a garden hose reel similarly having a horizontal axis, and including a support member designed to be pivotably stuck into the ground.
Industrial fire hose reels having horizontal axes are manufactured by Herbert S. Hiller Corporation and Magnum Fire & Safety Systems. These prior art reels may be positioned at an industrial site, and provide a suitable rack for the fire hose. The units include a fluid inlet generally affixed adjacent the reel and aligned with the axis of the reel. These units are not, however, pivotably mounted on a stationary base, and thus problems can arise when the hose is pulled off the reel in a direction other than that perpendicular to the axis of the reel.
Prior art industrial fire hose reels generally must be operated by at least two people. Considerable time is utilized to unreel the hose from the reel, then direct the nozzle of the hose to the fire. If the hose is hastily unwound, as can be expected during an emergency, the hose of prior art reels frequently becomes snagged at a location adjacent the base of the reel, thereby delaying critical time before a fire can be brought under control. Even if a hose reel is mounted on a swivel base, the inlet to the reel would rotate as the reel rotates, thereby enhancing the likelihood that the fluid conduit to the reel assembly will substantially restrict the ability of the reel to freely swivel upon a base, or that the incoming fluid line will become snagged, thereby restricting fluid flow to the reel and the fire. Also, prior art industrial reel assemblies are expensive to manufacture, and component parts cannot be easily repaired or replaced. Finally, it is difficult for one person to unwind the hose from the reel during an emergency, and also to rewind the hose back on the reel after use.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and an improved fire hose reel assembly is hereinafter described having significant advantages over prior art reels.